Functional Pillow for Preventing Head Deformation of Infants Due to Posture

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a functional pillow for preventing positional head deformity of an infant. The functional pillow includes an inner foam member which is porous, an outer cover which encloses the inner foam member and includes a plurality of through-holes formed thereon, a head seating portion which is formed on at least one of a top surface and a bottom surface of a pillow body which includes the inner foam member and the outer cover in an eccentric position to allow a head to be placed thereon, and at least one layered auxiliary pillow which is inserted into the head seating portion and includes an auxiliary head seating portion of a different size formed on a surface. A degree of layering of the auxiliary pillow is different according to a head size.

FIELD

The present invention relates to a functional pillow for preventing positional head deformity of an infant, and more particularly, to a functional pillow for preventing positional head deformity of an infant which can easily and efficiently prevent occipital deformity that may be caused by an infant lying or sleeping on the back at home or in a childcare center.

BACKGROUND

In the medical text, infants refer to babies between birth and 2 years of age, and also refer to preschool children between 2 years of age and 6 years of age. Since the infants' skull is very malleable in comparison with the adults' skull, the infants' occipital area, which is in contact with a floor when the infants sleep or lie on the back, is pressed by the heavy brain in the skull. If the infant is subjected to this pressure for a long time, the positional head deformity, which is also known as “plagiocephaly” indicating flattening of the occiput or “brachycephaly” indicating flattening of the entire occiput, may be caused.

Most of the childcare devices on the market for preventing such head deformity are designed in a fixed type and prevent the head deformity by changing the baby's supine position. Therefore, the childcare device has difficulty in being adjusted according to a body size and a curve, which change according to the age (in month), sex, and growth status of the infant. Such childcare position may cause physical inconvenience to the baby.

Prior art documents related to a method for preventing head deformity are provided as follows. For instance, an infant support of U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,832, which has been developed to maintain a baby's position, is adjustable in its width according to a baby's body size, and achieves a prevention position using two independent elements, a back support and an abdominal support. However, we can guess that a separate head support for supporting a baby's head raised in one direction along with the back is necessary. Also, we can guess that the fixed cushion-type back support does not provide an inclination angle that is sufficient to support the back of the infants of different body sizes and curves due to the shape of the cushion. Also, we can guess that the inclination angle may cause the infant to fall backward when the infant moves heavily.

In another instance, an infant safety system of U.S. Pat. No. 7,213,281 includes a back support and an abdominal support of fixed shapes using hard material. However, we can guess that it is not easy for the back support and the abdominal support to maintain a sloping position for a long time according to an infant's body size and curve, which change according to the age (in month), sex, and growth status of the infant, due to their structural features. Also, if the position unsuitable for the infant's body persists for a long time, the position may cause inconvenience to the infant. As a result, the aforementioned products have been developed to maintain the baby's position. There are limitations for the aforementioned products to achieve the aim of supporting the baby's sloping prevention position for a long time stably and efficiently without causing any inconvenience to the baby in order to prevent death from suffocation and head deformity due to the materials and shapes.

SUMMARY

The present invention has been developed in order to solve the above problems. An aspect of the present invention is to provide a functional pillow for preventing positional head deformity of an infant, which includes a separate auxiliary pillow of a layered type or a replaceable type, thereby being used appropriately according to a growing head size of an infant, while preventing plagiocephaly or brachycephaly of a head.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a functional pillow for preventing positional head deformity of an infant, which uses an air mesh material for an inner foam element of a pillow body, and has through-holes formed on an outer cover, thereby improving air permeability and thus preventing skin ailment such as heat rash on the occipital area of the infant.

Still another aspect of the present invention is to provide a functional pillow for preventing positional head deformity of an infant, in which a pillow body is formed to have a lower height around the neck and a higher height above the head, thereby preventing an infant's head from being tilted back.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a functional pillow for preventing positional head deformity of an infant, the functional pillow including: an inner foam member which is porous, an outer cover which encloses the inner foam member and includes a plurality of through-holes formed thereon, a head seating portion which is formed in an eccentric position from a center of a pillow body which includes the inner foam member and the outer cover, and at least one auxiliary pillow which is inserted into the head seating portion and is layered, wherein the auxiliary pillow includes an auxiliary head seating portion formed on a surface thereof and a degree of layering is different according to head size.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a functional pillow for preventing positional head deformity of an infant, the functional pillow including: an inner foam member which is porous, an outer cover which encloses the inner foam member and includes a plurality of through-holes formed thereon, an insertion recess which is formed on at least one of a top surface and a bottom surface of a pillow body which includes the inner foam member and the outer cover, and at least one replaceable auxiliary pillow which is inserted into the insertion recess and includes a head seating portion of a different size individually formed to allow a head to be placed thereon, wherein any one of the insertion recess and the head seating portion is formed in an eccentric position from a center of the pillow body.

The head seating portion may be positioned at a point of about ½ to ⅓ of the pillow body from a lower end of the pillow body.

The pillow body may be formed such that a thickness around a neck falls within a range of about 50% to 70% of a thickness above a head.

A size of the auxiliary head seating portion may decrease toward an upper layer of the auxiliary pillow.

The functional pillow for preventing the positional head deformity of the infant described above includes the separate auxiliary pillow of a layered type or a replaceable type, thereby being used appropriately according to the growing head size of the infant, while preventing plagiocephaly, in which the occipital area of the infant's head, which is in contact with a floor, is flattened on one side when the infant spends too much time lying on the back at home or in a childcare center, or brachycephaly in which the entire occiput is flattened.

Also, the present invention uses an air mesh material for the inner foam element of the pillow body, and has through-holes formed on the outer cover, thereby improving air permeability and thus preventing skin ailment such as heat rash on the occipital area of the infant.

Also, the present invention has the pillow body which is formed to have a lower height around the neck and a higher height above the head, thereby preventing an infant's head from being tilted back.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects of the invention will become and more readily appreciated from the following description of the exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are a plane view and a side section view illustrating a functional pillow for preventing positional head deformity of an infant according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a photo showing an inner foam member of the functional pillow for preventing the positional head deformity of the infant; and

FIG. 4 is a side section view illustrating a functional pillow for preventing positional head deformity of an infant according to another exemplary embodiment.

100: pillow of an exemplary embodiment 110: pillow body 112: inner foam member 114: outer cover 116: head seating portion 120: auxiliary pillow 122: auxiliary head seating portion 200: pillow of another exemplary embodiment 210: pillow body 212: inner foam member 214: outer cover 216: insertion recess 220: auxiliary pillow 222: head seating portion

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a functional pillow 100 for preventing positional head deformity of an infant according to an exemplary embodiment includes a pillow body 110 which includes an inner foam member 112, an outer cover 114, and a head seating portion 116, and an auxiliary pillow 120.

The pillow body 110 includes the inner foam member 112 which is porous, the outer cover 114 which encloses the inner foam member 112 and includes a plurality of through-holes formed thereon, and the head seating portion 116 which is formed on at least one of a top surface and a bottom surface in an eccentric position to allow an infant's head to be placed thereon. Since the inner foam member 112 is made of an air mesh material and the outer cover 114 enclosing the inner foam member 112 has the through-holes, the pillow body 110 can prevent skin ailment such as heat rash on the occipital area of the infant. Furthermore, the inner foam member 112 may be formed by enclosing a soft elastic material with a cushiony air mesh material or may be formed of an air mesh material itself (see FIG. 3).

The pillow body 110 is formed to have a lower thickness (t₁) around the infant's neck and a higher thickness (t₂) above the infant's head, so that the pillow 100 can prevent the infant's head from being tilted back. The thickness (t₁) around the neck may fall within a range of about 50% to 70% of the thickness (t₂) above the head. However, this should not be considered as limiting and the thickness may vary.

If the thickness (t₁) of the pillow body 110 around the neck is less than 50% of the thickness (t₂) above the head, the infant's head is tilted forward too much. If the thickness (t₁) of the pillow body 110 around the neck is greater than 70% of the thickness (t₂) above the head, the infant's head is tilted back too much. Therefore, it is preferred that the thickness (t₁) around the neck falls within the range of 50% to 70% of the thickness (t₂) above the head.

The head seating portion 116 allows the back of the infant's head to be seated thereon and may be formed in a hemisphere shape. A space, which is formed by the hemisphere shape of the head seating portion 116 and thus does not allow the back of the infant's head to contact a bottom of the pillow directly, can essentially prevent occipital deformity that may be caused by the back of the head pressed by the bottom.

That is, the head seating portion 116 is positioned eccentrically from a center of the pillow body 110, such that a distance (I₂) from a lower end of an outer surface of the pillow body 110 to a lower end of an inner surface of the head seating portion 116 is smaller than a distance (I₁) from an upper end of the inner surface of the head seating portion 116 to an upper end of the outer surface of the pillow body 110. It is preferred that the head seating portion 116 is positioned at a point of about ½ to ⅓ of the pillow body 110 from the lower end of the pillow body 110.

If the head seating portion 116 is positioned above the point of ½ from the lower end of the pillow body 110, the infant's head is tilted back too much, and, if the head seating portion 116 is positioned below the point of ⅓ from the lower end of the pillow body 110, the infant's head is tilted forward too much.

As described above, the head seating portion 116 is formed eccentrically from the center of the pillow body 110, thereby preventing a lower portion of the back of the infant's head from being deformed by a pressure of the pillow body 110. The degree of eccentricity of the head seating portion 116 is not limited to the above example and may vary.

At least one auxiliary pillow 120 is inserted into the head seating portion 116 in a non-adhesive way, and each has an auxiliary head seating portion 122 formed on a surface thereof. In particular, if two or more auxiliary pillows 120 are provided, the auxiliary pillows 120 have a layered structure.

As a result, since the layered auxiliary pillows 120 have the auxiliary head seating portions 122 of different sizes, more or fewer auxiliary pillows 120 may be layered in accordance with the infant's head size which is different according to the growth of the infant. At this time, the head seating portion 116 of the pillow body 110 has the largest size and the auxiliary head seating portion 122 of the auxiliary pillow 120 has a size gradually decreased toward an upper layer. The layered auxiliary pillows 120 may have the same surface height.

Since a degree of layering of the auxiliary pillows 120 is different according to the infant's growing head size, the auxiliary pillow 120 is appropriately adjusted according to the infant's growing head size and thus can prevent the occipital deformity more easily and efficiently.

That is, the auxiliary pillows 120 are layered to the maximum on the head seating portion 116 of the pillow body 110 for a newborn baby and the baby's head is placed on the auxiliary head seating portion 122 of the auxiliary pillows 120. The auxiliary pillows 120 are removed one by one as the baby grows.

A functional pillow 200 for preventing positional head deformity of an infant according to another exemplar embodiment includes a pillow body 210 which includes an inner foam member 212 and an outer cover 214, and an auxiliary pillow 220, as shown in FIG. 4.

In the same way as in the aforementioned embodiment, the pillow body 210 includes the inner foam member 212 and the outer cover 214, and also, includes an insertion recess 216 which is formed on at least one of a top surface and a bottom surface to allow the auxiliary pillow 220 to be inserted thereinto. The heights of the inner foam member 212 and the outer cover 214 and the pillow body 210 are the same as those of the aforementioned embodiment for the same structure and function, and thus a detailed description is omitted.

Unlike the head seating portion 116 of the pillow body 110 in the aforementioned embodiment, the insertion recess 216 is formed to allow the auxiliary pillow 220 to be inserted into a surface of the pillow body 210. Accordingly, the auxiliary pillow 220 may be replaced with another auxiliary pillow 220 which has a head seating portion 222 of a different size according to a growth period of the infant.

Any one of the insertion recess 216 of the pillow body 210 and the head seating portion 222 of the auxiliary pillow 220 is formed eccentrically and the degree of eccentricity is the same as that in the aforementioned embodiment for the same structure and function, and thus a detailed description is omitted.

Accordingly, the auxiliary pillow 220 inserted into the insertion recess 216 of the pillow body 210 may be replaced with another one as the infant grows.

The above-described functional pillow can efficiently prevent plagiocephaly, in which the occipital area of the infant's head, which is in contact with a floor, is flattened on one side by a pressure of the heavy brain in the skull, when the infant spends too much time lying on the back at home or in a childcare center, or brachycephaly in which the entire occiput is flattened.

The foregoing exemplary embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present inventive concept. The exemplary embodiments can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. Also, the description of the exemplary embodiments is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims, and many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A functional pillow for preventing positional head deformity of an infant, the functional pillow comprising: an inner foam member which is porous; an outer cover which encloses the inner foam member and comprises a plurality of through-holes formed thereon; a head seating portion which is formed in an eccentric position from a center of a pillow body which comprises the inner foam member and the outer cover; and at least one auxiliary pillow which is inserted into the head seating portion and is layered, wherein the auxiliary pillow comprises an auxiliary head seating portion formed on a surface thereof and a degree of layering is different according to a head size.
 2. The functional pillow as claimed in claim 1, wherein a size of the auxiliary head seating portion decreases toward an upper layer of the auxiliary pillow.
 3. A functional pillow for preventing positional head deformity of an infant, the functional pillow comprising: an inner foam member which is porous; an outer cover which encloses the inner foam member and comprises a plurality of through-holes formed thereon; an insertion recess which is formed on at least one of a top surface and a bottom surface of a pillow body which comprises the inner foam member and the outer cover; and at least one replaceable auxiliary pillow which is inserted into the insertion recess and comprises a head seating portion of a different size individually formed to allow a head to be placed thereon, wherein any one of the insertion recess and the head seating portion is formed in an eccentric position from a center of the pillow body.
 4. The functional pillow as claimed in claim 3, wherein the head seating portion is positioned at a point of about ½ to ⅓ of the pillow body from a lower end of the pillow body.
 5. The functional pillow as claimed in claim 3, wherein the pillow body is formed such that a thickness around a neck falls within a range of about 50% to 70% of a thickness above a head.
 6. The functional pillow as claimed in claim 3, wherein the inner foam member is formed by enclosing a soft elastic material with a cushiony air mesh material or is formed of an air mesh material itself.
 7. The functional pillow as claimed in claim 3, wherein the head seating portion is formed in a hemisphere shape. 